Distribution of Chlamydia trachomatis Serovars among Female Prostitutes and Non-Prostitutes in Thailand, and Non-Prostitutes in Japan during the Mid-90s

The distribution of Chlamydia trachomatis serovars in Thailand and Japan during the same period of the mid-90s was determined. Seventy-one C. trachomatis specimens isolated from female patients who visited the Venereal Diseases Center at Bangkok, Thailand in 1994 were used in this study. Of these, 56 patients were prostitutes. Forty-seven specimens obtained from female non-prostitutes who attended the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Saitama Medical School, Japan during the period from 1993 to 1995 were also used in this study. DNA was extracted from these specimens and typing of C. trachomatis serovars was performed by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. The identified serovars among prostitutes of Thailand (n = 56) /non-prostitutes of Thailand (n = 15) /non-prostitutes of Japan (n = 47) were as follows: Ba 1/0/2, D 8/1/15, E 11/2/8, F 16/9/8, G 4/0/7, H 3/2/3, I 1/0/1, J 3/0/0, and K 10/1/4. Serovar F was most prevalent (35.2%) in both prostitutes and non-prostitutes from Thailand, followed by serovar E (18.3%). On the other hand, serovar D was the most frequent serovar in non-prostitutes in Japan (31.9%) followed by serovars F (17.0%) and E (17.0%). A difference in the distribution of C. trachomatis serovars of Thailand and Japan was noted.